The EU's 'Satan' says he wants a 'hell of a conversation' with the UK

LONDON — Guy Verhofstadt, the chief Brexit negotiator for the
European Union's parliament and a "staunch
federalist," said he is "Looking forward to a hell of a
conversation with David Davis tomorrow :)," a
reference to his meeting with the Brexit secretary in the UK
today.

Verhofstadt, who was also the former Belgian prime
minister, made the statement in a tweet to which
he attached a link to a Telegraph article where Davis
allegedly referred to him as "Satan:"

Since the publication of the
Telegraph interview, Davis clarified that he was not
referring to Verhofstadt as "Satan" but he was actually
using a phrase to indicate to the interviewer that he would not
be tempted in commenting on him personally.

Britain voted for a Brexit by a slim majority on June
23 and, since then, there has been much speculation on when
the new prime minister Theresa May will trigger Article 50 and
start the official two-year negotiation process for Britain to
leave the EU. March 2017 is the current target date.

May said she will not give a "running commentary" on how
negotiations are going but she has made it clear in various
speeches that her government is prioritising immigration
restrictions. This would imply a "hard Brexit" — leaving the EU
without access to the Single Market — because the EU's official
line is that it will not allow the UK to curb immigration and
keep membership the Single Market at the same time.